Yankees option Oswaldo Cabrera to Triple-A, Randal Grichuk makes Opening Day roster

TAMPA, FL - FEBRUARY 21: Oswaldo Cabrera #95 of the New York Yankees smiles before the game against the Detroit Tigers at George M. Steinbrenner Field on February 21, 2026 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by New York Yankees/Getty Images) | Getty Images The moment that news broke late Friday afternoon that the Yankees would be optioning Jasson Domínguez to Triple-A, it seemed like a cinch that big-league veteran Randal Grichuk would make their Opening Day roster.

Although he arrived to camp as a late-signing non-roster invitee and manager Aaron Boone tried to make it sound like it wasn’t a sure thing that be with them at the start of 2026 (even saying so yesterday), Grichuk so clearly seemed to fit what the Yankees claimed they were looking for all winter: a righty-hitting bench outfielder. As such, it has to come to pass: Grichuk will be on the 2026 Yankees, per Boone’s report on Saturday morning. Domínguez wasn’t the only player who had to make room for Grichuk given the crowded roster situation, and so came the related news that utilityman Oswaldo Cabrera would begin the year in Triple-A: Randal Grichuk has made the team, Aaron Boone said.

Oswaldo Cabrera is being optioned to Triple-A. — Greg Joyce (@GJoyce9) March 21, 2026 Cabrera had an option and is coming back from a pretty brutal ankle injury, only making it into seven games thus far in spring training. So for as solid as a bench option as he is at full health, he’s not quite there yet, and he can keep getting regular reps at Scranton rather than rarely playing in the majors.

More likely than not, he’ll be needed sooner rather than later given the overall age of the Yankees’ roster. As for Grichuk, he’s not terribly exciting on the surface, but as Estevão noted earlier in March , there’s a reason why he had the Yankees were interested in him. Is it possible that he was just cooked in his 85 OPS+ age-33 season last year?